The Cistercian monks (or White Monks) who lived at Tintern followed the Rule of St. Benedict.
The Carta Caritatis (Charter of Love) laid out their basic principles,
of obedience, poverty, chastity, silence, prayer, and work. With this austere
way of life, the Cistercians were one of the most successful orders in the 12th
and 13th centuries. The lands of the Abbey were divided into agricultural units
or granges, on which local people
worked and provided services such as smithies to the Abbey. Many endowments of
land on both sides of the Wye were made to the Abbey.

Development of the buildings

The present-day remains of Tintern are a mixture of
building works covering a 400-year period between 1136 and 1536. Very little
remains of the first buildings; a few sections of walling are incorporated into
later buildings and the two recessed cupboards for books on the east of the
cloisters are from this period. The church of that time was smaller than the
present building and was slightly to the north.

During the 13th century the Abbey was mostly rebuilt;
first the cloisters and the domestic ranges, then finally the great church between 1269 and
1301. The first Mass in the rebuilt presbytery was recorded to have
taken place in 1288, and the building was consecrated in 1301, although
building work continued for several decades.[2]Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk,
the then lord of Chepstow, was a generous benefactor; his monumental
undertaking was the rebuilding of the church. The Abbey put his coat of arms in
the glass of its east window in thanks to him.

In 1326 King Edward II stayed at Tintern
for two nights. In 1349 the Black Death swept the country and it became impossible to attract new recruits for the
lay brotherhood. Changes to the way the granges were tenanted out rather than worked by
lay brothers show that Tintern was short of labour. In the early 15th century
Tintern was short of money, due in part to the effects of the Welsh uprising
under Owain Glyndŵr against the
English kings, when Abbey properties were destroyed by the Welsh rebels. The
closest battle to the abbey was at Craig y Dorth near Monmouth, between Trellech and Mitchel Troy.

Dissolution

In the reign of King Henry VIII, his Dissolution of the Monasteries
ended monastic life in England and Wales. On 3 September 1536 Abbot Wyche
surrendered Tintern Abbey and all its estates to the King's visitors and ended
a way of life which had lasted 400 years. Valuables from the Abbey were sent to
the royal Treasury and Abbot Wyche
was pensioned off. The building was granted to the then lord of Chepstow, Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester. Lead from the roof was sold and the decay of the buildings began.

The ruins

The Chancel and Crossing
of Tintern Abbey, Looking towards the East Window by J. M. W.
Turner, 1794

In the next two centuries little or no interest was shown
in the history of the site. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the ruins were
inhabited by workers in the local wire works.[2] However, in the mid eighteenth century it became fashionable to visit
"wilder" parts of the country. The Wye Valley in particular was well known for its romantic and picturesque qualities and the ivy clad Abbey was frequented by "romantic"
tourists. After the publication of the book Observations on the River Wye
by the Reverend William Gilpin in 1782, tourists
visited the site in droves. The importance of the abbey and its surroundings
for later visitors is also reflected in Wordsworth's famous poem cited above, written in 1798. The site was best approached from the river
until 1822, when a new turnpike road, now the A466, was opened through the
valley, cutting through the abbey precinct. An engraving of Tintern Abbey was
among the decorations of Fanny Price's sitting room in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.

In the 19th century ruined abbeys became the focus for
scholars, and architectural and archaeological investigations were undertaken.
In 1901 the Abbey was bought by the crown from the Duke of Beaufort
for £15,000. It was recognised as a monument of national importance and repair
and maintenance works began to be carried out. In 1914 the Office of Works was passed responsibility for Tintern, and major structural repairs and
partial reconstructions were undertaken — the ivy considered so romantic by the early tourists was removed.

American poet Allen Ginsberg took an acid trip at Tintern
Abbey on July 28, 1967, and wrote his poem Wales Visitation. In the poem, about
nature, he wrote: "...the lambs on the tree-nooked hillside this day
bleating/ heard in Blake's old ear, & the silent thought of Wordsworth in
eld Stillness/ clouds passing through skeleton arches of Tintern Abbey-/ Bard
Nameless as the Vast, babble to Vastness!".[8][9]

Lutheran

Presbyterian

About Me

Retired. Reformed and Presbyterian by background, but dedicated to the Anglican Prayerbook with degrees from Presbyterian and Episcopal seminaries. Informed by both traditions. Not giving up the 1662 BCP for the Presbyterians and not giving up the Westminster Standards for the Anglicans.